When it comes to getting the best picture from your retro-consoles, you all should know that RGB is the way to go and that SCART is the easiest way to get RGB from most retro consoles. If you’ve not already read our gamers guide to SCART, you might want to go there first to see why it’s worth going to all the trouble of getting SCART and SCART switching to work correctly. In that article we talked about the different types of SCART switch and established that there are only two types (which I’ve named passive manual and auto with manual override) that are generally compatible with games consoles. Unfortunately, it’s not as easy to find a fully compatible SCART switch as it should be, it seems that manufacturers cut corners on SCART switching to save money. While these deficiencies don’t usually show up when using video recorders or DVD players, they can play havoc with the specially built SCART cables that many older games consoles require.
SCART switching – why so many issues?
As explained in our gamers guide to SCART, SCART is a 21 pin connector. For a switch to be fully compatible with all possible configurations, a SCART switch should switch and isolate all 21 pins. In practise, most configurations will work if only the pins for Red, Green, Blue, Sync, Audio Left and Audio Right are included in the switching. Furthermore, many switches do not fully isolate one socket from the other. Again, this is fine in the majority of cases, but what tends to happen is that the signal becomes degraded as it passes through the switching matrix, usually losing brightness.
Testing SCART switches
Note:- SCART is not strictly speaking, a hot-plug standard. That means that, really, you shouldn’t disconnect and reconnect equipment without powering it down first. While writing this article, however, that is exactly what I did, and I managed to get away without breaking anything, although I still wouldn’t recommend it.
To fully test SCART equipment, you should look at several factors:-
Brightness/picture noise:- The most common degradation when using bad SCART switches is loss of brightness, followed by picture noise. When testing a SCART switch for these problems, make sure that you fully populate the switch (in other words, make sure every socket on the switch has a SCART plug in it). Then, compare the brightness of the picture on at least two of the inputs, versus what you see when you plug the SCART cable directly into the display/processor. Check for any added picture noise too.
Isolation test:- This one’s easy, fully populate your SCART switch and switch it over to the first input. Now, power on every other input on the switch. A properly made SCART switch should not be affected by this, but the more cheaply made ones will show a picture degraded by the other inputs, or even a picture made up of the signal from several inputs.
Tested SCART switches
Below are some quick reviews of the SCART switches I’ve personally tested. If you have your own SCART switch that works well with games consoles, please leave a comment so that other people can benefit from your experiences.
To de-clutter this page, I’ve now split each switch review onto it’s own page, with a quick summary of the review on here.
BlueDelta Smart SCART
Availability – Discontinued
Average eBay price – Around £10 (Frequently listed)
Review summary – A good switch, spoiled by the lack of a manual override and build quality/reliability issues. 7 out of 10. Click here for the full review.
Hama AV Selector 100S
Availability – Still available on the web.
Price – Around £25
Review summary - Not the prettiest bit of AV gear, but a solid performer. 8 out of 10. Click here for the full review.
Hama SCART Switchbox 4/1 Model 42957
Availability – Discontinued
Average eBay price – Unknown (rarely listed)
Review summary – Basically a good switch, but loss of brightness is disappointing. 6 out of 10. Click here for the full review, or click here for the picture quality gallery.
Keene SCART commander
Availability – Discontinued
Average eBay price – Unknown (occasionally listed)
Review summary – As close to perfect as you’re likely to see in a SCART switch. 9 out of 10. Click here for the full review, or click here for the picture quality gallery.
Mad Katz Universal RGB SCART System Selector
Availability:- Discontinued
Average eBay price – Unknown (rarely listed)
Review summary – The best budget SCART switch we’ve tested. 9 out of 10. Click here for the full review, or click here for the picture quality gallery.
SCART Switch Manual Push Button 5 Way (also similar models with 3 or 4 inputs and/or phono/RCA connectors)
Availability – Widely available from E-bay and online.
Review Summary – Frankly, we’d rather get up and swap the cables over manually than use this thing. 2 out of 10. Click here for the full review.
Shinybow/Skytronic 6:2 SCART Matrix Switcher (SB-5525)
Availability – Shinybow.eu 161 Euros + Shipping
Review Summary – A solidly built switch, but not without its problems. At this price we would have expected perfect. Click here for the full review, or click here for the picture quality gallery.
Silverscreen Trilogy 1
Availability:- Discontinued
Average eBay price – Around £50 (rarely listed)
Review Summary – A fantastic high quality SCART switch, if you can still find one. 9 out of 10. Click here for the full review.
Thor AV Control Centre AVC-100/28570T
Availability – Discontinued
Average eBay price – Around £50 (rarely listed)
Review Summary – Perfect performance, great aesthetics, a truly outstanding RGB switch. 9 out of 10. Click here for the full review, or click here for the picture quality gallery.
SCART splitters and other connectivity helpers
If you need more outputs from your SCART switch, you can always add a secondary splitter. Below is a list of several we’ve reviewed.
Cypress SC-AMP-2 Active Scart Splitter
Availability – Discontinued.
Average eBay price – Unknown (rarely listed)
Review Summary – A handy little gadget, if you can ever find one. 8 out of 10. Click here for the full review.
Keene 1×5 SCART Distribution Amplifier
Availability – Keene.co.uk.
Price – £99 + Shipping
Review Summary – Flawless in operation and built to a high standard. An ideal way to split out any SCART signal. 9 out of 10. Click here for the full review and picture gallery.
SCART switches tested by other gamers
I’ll list any SCART switches that have been tested by other gamers down here. I have not tested most of these devices personally so cannot comment on the accuracy of the reviews.
5 way SCART switcher splitter switch box (black, push button, looks like a door step, as sold by Oakfield Leisure on E-bay) – Not recommended – picture significantly dimmed (XRGB3 user ‘Rock Man’).
Bandridge Premium Performance 5-Way SCART Selector – Recommended (User Thomago in shmups forum).
Bandridge Premium Performance 5-Way SCART Selector – Not Recommended (User @Tryumph4ks on Twitter) – Sockets are not correctly isolated from one another.
Joytech AV Control Center JS965 – Recommended (Konsolkongen from Shmups forum).
Logik Audio/Video 4 in 1 Multi SCART Adaptor – Not recommended (Sega Saturn UK forum) (no manual override?).
Marmitek Connect 236 Scart Switcher – Not recommended – Picture shapmess degraded, colours degraded, additional outputs appear to be composite only. (Blizzz from the Shmups forum)
Shinybow SCART Matrix 6:2 Switch – Recommended (shmups forum).